Music magazine: front cover analysis

The following front covers of music magazines are the one's I have chosen to analyse for my music magazine research. I hope to gain idea's from this analysis to include in my final music magazine cover. I will take positive aspects of the front covers to help develop my own and I will avoid negative aspects that do not work.

 

 

 

The first front cover I have chosen to analyse is a kerrang music magazine with the main splash as Paramore and the main image is of Hayley Williams the lead singer of the band. Kerrang! is owned by Emap publications who also own Q, Mojo and Empire magazine. Kerrang! was designed to focus primarily on heavy metal/rock music. The kerrang! target audience is between 15 and 24 years old, with a gender split of 60% male and 40% female.

Kerrang! magazines follow a standard magazine layout with a grid like structure, the layout offers snippets of text and a general approach to all essential areas of the genre, which works well for teenage readers who like to quickly read the latest information and not having to read a lot of text to know what the magazine offers.

The masthead of the magazine is covered slightly by the top of the main image this suggests that kerrang doesn't want it's readers to focus much on their masthead. They are a well known magazine so it is not needed, they are already established and have a loyal reading audience the main focus and importance of this magazine is the main story of Paramore. The masthead fits in well with the genre of the magazine the lettering is all sliced almost reflecting a reblious feel of the rock magazine.

The main image is an individual photo of the lead singer of Paramore rather than a group photo of the band this immediately suggests to the public that she is seen the most important to the media industry. She looks sterotypically like a rock singer and this sterotype has been constructed to the reader by a variety of ways. She is presented as being arrogant, sticking her fingers up to cause offence but she doesn't care what effect she has and she evidently doesn't care about being a rolemodel and showing a positive attitude. Her facial expression is also very harsh showing she is full of self importance and doesn't care what image she gives, her harsh facial expression and body language shows us that she is rebellious against the norms of society. It is seen as highly rude to give an agressive hand sign and not showing people respect. The gaze of Hayley Williams is straight at the audience but she isn't smiling so isn't completely inticing the reader in, instead she is pouting with attitude. She doesn't exactly look friendly but the reader might consider her as being very cool and attractive. Her clothing is a dark orange/red which matches the colour scheme of the magazine and so does her unatural dyed hair, also showing she is reblious and edgy trying unusual hair colour's which also reflect her rocky fashion style.

Kerrang! offers free posters which targets their teen audience, it allows fans to put posters up on their bedroom walls of their favourite "rock star". The subsidiary images of this kerrang! music magazine is the revealed posters that the magazine is offering, they are posters of the rock band "panic! at the disco." This band has the same aged fan base as the age readership of the magazine so not only does it help attract customers of the same age group to buy kerrang! but it advertises a well known rock band.

The colour scheme of the magazine is similar to most magazines, it has the tradittional magazine colours (red, black, and white), these colours make the magazine cover look more interesting to the audience and help certain stories stand out.

The sell lines of this kerrang! magazine are straight to the point and give limited information this helps make the reader curious about the news revealed beyond the front cover.

 

 

 

The second front cover I have decided to analyse is a Q music magazine with the main splash as Arctic Monkeys. Q magazine is sold throughout the UK and is owned by the Bauer Media Group. Q magazine is aimed towards a 17- 30 year old target audience. Q music magazines mainly reveal new interviews of popular musical artist to their readership audience.

The masthead of Q magazine is placed in the left hand corner of all its magazines, it has an intense bright red background with white lettering overlapping, this immediately makes the magazine stand out. Just from looking at the masthead we can tell that this magazine is aimed at an older target audience/age group (up to 30 years old) compared to kerrang due to the fact it has a smart formal feel to the magazine. I think this is created by the use of the white background and having lighter colours, also the layout seems to be more planned and structured although it still follows a grid like structure as well as most magazines.

The main image is a group photo of the band "Arctic Monkeys." The main singer is positioned at the front of the image showing a leading role of the rock band, it shows us that he is in control. The gaze of the band is directly at the audience it's almost intimidating due to their harsh facial expressions. This this image helps reflect the pull quote "They're back with a bang" showing that they're back to go to the top almost as if they are prepared to fight for their title this is why their facial expressions are agressive.

The colour scheme of the magazine is red, black and white which makes everything important on the magazine stand out to the audience, we can evidently see that Q use the same colour scheme as kerrang! and many other music magazines.

The sell lines reveal a variety of news such as important quotes from compition bands such as the strokes, "They'd stab me to get to the top" it reveals how competetive these rock band are, they're rebellious and don't care what they do to get to the top.

 

 

 

The third front cover I have decided to analyse is a MOJO music magazine with the main splash as "The Beatles." MOJO magazine is owned by the Bauer Media Group as well as Q magazine. MOJO magazine is aimed towards a 30-60 year old target audience. MOJO mainly reaveals new interviews of popular musical artists just like Q magazine does.

The masthead of the magazine is in capitals and has white lettering making it immediately stand out on the black background of the front cover. The masthead is being slightly covered by the top of the main image, the O and the J are not seen to the audience but this shows us that the main focus of the front cover is Paul McCartney and that he is in control.

The main image dominates the page, it is of Paul McCartney in the foreground of the magazine and the other members of the band "The Beatles" are in the background, this suggests that he is highly important and is a leader character of the band. Paul McCartney's facial expressions is kind of iviting offering information for the reader to buy the magazine and read their article, almost as if he's smug of what information he is about to reveal.

The main sell line of the magazine is "How I survived the beatles" this quote makes the reader interested in what the article is about. It is used to try and persuade readers/fans to buy the magazine.

 There are two subsidiary images on the front cover of MOJO unlike Q magazine who doesn't have any. The subsidiary images are of Bob Marley and Brian Wilson this helps attract  a range of readers rather than just "The Beatles" fans. Unlike Q the front cover of this magazine contains a pug, offering readers a "free CD" this helps to catch the customers eye and persuade them to buy the magazine seen as they get extra beneifts of purchasing it.

The colour scheme of this MOJO magazine is also red, black and white just like Kerrang! and Q magazines.
The design and layot of this front cover is very formal and structured evidently aiming at a older target audience due to the fact it is more smart and organised. The layout of this magazine also follows a grid like structure just like Kerrang! and Q magazines.